A charitable can-do attitude

COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Food For Thought cafe workers Hana Rose and Jake Glover are keen to exchange your can of food for a delicious cup of coffee to help support the Wairarapa Foodbank. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Staff at Food For Thought are offering plenty of cheer this Christmas for customers and the community.

In support of the Wairarapa Foodbank the Masterton cafe is asking customers to bring a can of food and swap it for a coffee.

Owner Yvonne McNeil said they had been given the idea by their coffee supplier Caffe L'Affare, who had told her about a pop-up cafe in Auckland doing a similar thing.

"They said it went really well so we thought we'd give it a go."

While the cafe normally supported Wairarapa Alzheimers as the main charity of choice, many people were struggling financially at the moment so they had decided to support the foodbank, Mrs McNeil said.

"We've never done this before. You read all the time that people are in dire straits and struggling. So we thought this was the perfect opportunity for us to support our community."

Four days into the offer the cafe has already collected a laundry basket full of cans.

"I'm going to have to go and get another hamper," she said. "It was lovely, we had one regular customer come in with five cans. I told him he only needed to bring in one."

The swap-a-can campaign will run through until Saturday, November 15.

Meanwhile, the Times-Age is also running an annual can appeal for the foodbank. If you would like to donate a can or gift for a needy child then pop into the office on the corner of Chapel and Perry Sts and add your goods to the trolley in the foyer.